Albelda appeals for Valencia patience

Valencia captain David Albelda has appealed for fans to remain calm as the club goes through a transitional period.

There have been some rumblings of discontent this season as new boss Mauricio Pellegrino has seen his team struggle in mid-table, with just three wins from the opening nine La Liga games.

Nonetheless, Albelda is in a privileged position to comment on Los Che’s fortunes, having served 15 years at Mestalla, and believes the excesses of past seasons must be taken into account.

“When you analyse this Valencia you can see there are new methods, a new Coach and a new squad,” explained Albelda in an interview with Punto Radio.
“There needs to be a process of adaptation and we can’t just believe in the theory that we have a base as in previous years.

“That’s where the inconsistency is shown because you can see there is the potential to do good things, but there are also days when things can go wrong. If there is no solution then things get bad.

“Every day we are trying to make things better but I don’t know where it will lead,” he admitted, before defending President Manuel Llorente’s policy at the club.

“What he is doing is not popular because nobody likes to see players sold. He manages assets that are not his own and he needs to do that well or we won’t know how we’ll end up.

“We were promised the richest club and that idea was sold to the fans. Before we lived like Kings but in the end the hole was uncovered. Manolo has a very tough fight on his hands for making such unpopular decisions.

“For too many years at Valencia we’ve had to endure too many Presidents, too many directors of football and too many changes. Some people want to destroy the club rather than build it and that’s a handicap we’ve had to put up with for many years.”

Albelda insisted that in the ‘golden years’ during the early part of the last decade he had seen the present situation coming, while maintaining Pellegrino is doing a good job in difficult circumstances.

“Of course I saw it coming but there were few of us who were willing to fight to change things, and that’s how we are what we are today. Everybody needs to give a bit more.

“I can understand the fans’ frustrations because the results have not been what we wanted. Pellegrino in all honesty is doing a great job and we all have to put a little more in to keep improving.

“There have been occasions when not only have we failed on a tactical level but individually we have also made some very serious mistakes.”

The 35-year-old looked forward to this weekend’s clash with high-flying Atletico Madrid at Mestalla.

“For these kind of games it doesn’t matter what position you are in or how many points you have, because there is extra motivation. That said, they are a great team and have a much more settled squad than ours.

“They also have [Radamel] Falcao, who is a complete striker. He has a way of playing like any humble footballer and the first thing he brings is his great work ethic for the good of team.

“Secondly, he has a great goal contribution and I’d place him in the top 10 strikers in the world, although that’s a matter of opinion,” he added.

Tags Albelda Pellegrino
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